We've touched before on the theme of the death of Santa Claus, such as
the metaphorical death of Santa portrayed in an ad, or
a man who had changed his name to Santa finally giving up the ghost.
However, there's another recurring weird news theme in which Santa Claus literally drops dead, often in front of a crowd of horrified children. What happens is that if you take a guy who's out of shape and overweight, dress him up in a hot costume, and make him do an unaccustomed level of exertion, the odds of him collapsing from a medical condition increase dramatically. Although Santas have also perished from non-medical causes (beard catching on fire, helicopter crash).
Fort Wayne Daily News - Dec 26, 1898
Belvidere Daily Republican - Dec 23, 1912
Taylor Daily Press - Dec 27, 1920
Indianapolis Star - Dec 24, 1922
San Bernardino County Sun - Dec 19, 1932
Oakland Tribune - Dec 13, 1925
Carbondale Daily Free Press - Dec 26, 1925
Hammond Times - Dec 19, 1937
Abilene Reporter-News - Dec 23, 1945
Rushville Republican - Dec 11, 1967
Louisville Courier-Journal - Dec 7, 1983
Category: Christmas